The Petersons

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “God whispers to us in our conscience, speaks to us in our pleasures, but yells to us in our pain. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."  God definitely got my attention through pain.  It was during the summer between my junior and senior year at the University of Montana that my younger brother died in a hiking accident.  It was through this turmoil and suffering that I really sensed a growing desire to know God at a more intimate level and to study His Word.  Not only that but I found that I wanted to tell other people about Jesus so they too could know why they were created and who their creator was.   I remember having such questions as, “What is the purpose to life?” and “What happens after death?” and I wanted to know the answers. 

I started to work at the Hillside Manor as an activities director and just loved being with the elderly and especially being able to study the Bible with them.  The more I read the more I wanted to know and through a number of different means I heard about Moody Bible Institute and decided to transfer there and really focus in on Bible and Theology classes.  It was a decision that I don’t regret.  I was not only able to study God’s Word but I also met a very beautiful woman there who was and still is in love with Jesus.  Hey they don’t call it Moody Bridal Institute for nothing!  Mandi and I were married in the summer of 1998 and now have three children (Ethan, Trevor, and Jadyn).  Trevor and Jadyn were born in Brazil where we served with South America Mission for nine years as missionaries.   Six of these years we lived in Brazil and worked with 15 or so different Indian tribes.  We had around a 100 or so students and family members living at the training center where we taught and many of our students came from villages where they were the only Christians. There was no church, no Bibles, no commentaries, and no other people to help spur them on. Discipleship as you know is a process and seeing our students, many of whom came to receive Jesus into their lives for the first time at the Ammi Training Center, growing in their faith brought tremendous satisfaction. In the mornings I taught Bible classes and in the afternoons all of our students and teachers worked side by side learning notions such as carpentry, mechanics, welding, gardening, cooking, etc. Each year we also made trips into different Indian villages with our Bible students where they learned how they too can share their faith with other Indian people. 

When the opportunity came up to Pastor at Discovery Alliance Church Mandi and I both sensed God was opening this door.  It was at the exact time that Discovery was looking for a Pastor that Mandi and myself were praying and asking God to show us his next step for our lives.  We were praying about returning to Brazil and also asking God to open doors if He should so direct us in another area of service.  We are so privileged to be a part of what God is doing at Discovery and know that He has great things in store for His people.  We would love to have you come and be a part of our church family if you don’t have one already.  Groucho Marx once sent a club a wire stating, ‘Please accept my resignation. I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.’  Well if membership to a church were based on perfection we would all have to resign.  If you don’t feel worthy or up to par to come to church you are the person we want to come because in God’s eyes we all fall very short of his standard of perfection.  So, come and let’s learn together what this life is all about. 

Eric

*Photo by Cindy Svoboda Photography